Photo Album
by Durbe the Barian
Summary: During an all-out cleaning job in their old house, Quattro finds an old photo album. And album filled with pictures from happier times. For Arclight Week.


**Zexal Oneshot**

**Photo Album**

**Humor/Family**

**Quattro/Trey/Quinton**

**During an all-out cleaning job in their old house, Quattro finds an old photo album. And album filled with pictures from happier times. For Arclight Week. **

**(Don't own Zexal. If I did, these two kids would NOT have been sent to Barian. [silent] Okay, QUATTRO, maybe, but not Trey.)**

* * *

Photo Album

* * *

Quattro was not what most people would consider patient. In fact, if somebody asked him, he probably wouldn't be able to **spell** 'patience.' Unlike his older brother, 'patient' was not in his vocabulary. This was true in just about any situation, with only a seldom exception here or there.

Cleaning the house to render it habitable again? No, that was not one of those exceptions.

* * *

"Is he serious?!" the yellow-clothed duelist growled. "Do we absolutely **have** to get every speck of dust in this stupid mansion?!"

Trey, who was walking through the hall when he said those things, sighed. "We don't have to get **every** speck of dust, Nii-sama," he said. "We just have to get enough that we can sleep without any problems."

"I can sleep just fine in rooms like this," Quattro said with a sigh. "You know that."

"I do," Trey said with a light grin. "But Chris-niisama doesn't."

That forced Quattro to slam his head against the wall in frustration. Cleaning was not his strongest point. But then again, it wasn't an Arclight strong point in general. Even Mr. Cleanliness himself, (Quinton) was probably one of the worst cleaners in the universe, no exaggeration. One time that could prove that was when the 15 year old scientist was trying to surprise their father for his birthday by cleaning the kitchen before the maid had a chance to go through it to make breakfast.

5 years later, Quinton **still** hadn't forgiven himself for giving the maid more work.

Anyway, drifting off topic here. Back to work.

* * *

Quinton walked into the living room of the mansion, a box in his arms. "Trey? Quattro? How are you two faring over here?"

Trey looked away from his broom and to his brother, a bright smile on his face as usual. "We're doing okay, Nii-sama," he said.

"Are the rooms still intact?" Quattro asked, a devilish grin on his face.

Quinton gave his brother a deadpan expression.

Not cute, Quattro.

"They are still **perfectly** intact, Quattro," Quinton said simply. "Now, can one of you do me a favor and bring this up to the attic?" He held the box out for the boys to get a better view.

"And what's all that junk?" Quattro asked, turning his head away from the curtains he was trying to murder with a whisk broom.

"Just some things I found scattered around the house," Quinton said. "Old pictures, your baby clothes-"

Quattro grabbed the box from his brother before he had the chance to humiliate him any more than he already had. "I'm going to get back at you someday, you know that, right?" he asked with a growl.

"I am aware," Quinton said nonchalantly. "But I am also aware that you have yet to succeed in making good on that threat, so I have little to worry about. So please, take those things upstairs. We'll all go through them later on to see what we can put up on the mantelpiece."

Trey's eyes lit up when he heard that. Quattro, however, simply sighed and walked up the stairs to the attic. Then Quinton looked over to the stairs and smiled slightly.

Then he turned around again, only to receive a grin from Trey, his broom resting behind his back. "What?" Quinton asked simply.

"It's good to see you and Nii-sama getting along again," Trey said happily.

Quinton raised an eyebrow. "Don't be ridiculous," he said.

With that, he turned back to go clean up his room. Trey, meanwhile, was busy trying to suppress his laughter.

Stubbornness must have run in the family if **both** of them refused to lighten up around each other.

* * *

Quattro couldn't stop coughing as he walked up the attic steps. Honestly, there was more dust in the attic than there was oxygen. Once he reached the final couple of steps, he just stared.

What had happened to the attic he used to remember as a child, he'll never know. What used to be a nice playground for children – provided the steps weren't down, that is – was now a haven for dust bugs and leaf mold. Once, it was amazingly clean – for an attic. But now...it was repulsive, even in his terms.

He held his breath for a second or two before he put the box down and swung all the windows open. Then he swallowed as much air as he could. "Oh, for crying out loud," he panted. "This place is worse than my bedroom." ←[He called dibs on the one room that was absolutely covered in dust and cobwebs.]

After gulping in some more air, Quattro pulled himself away from the window and stepped back. Then he hit his elbow against one of the many boxes situated in the middle of the room.

Everything moved so fast, Quattro didn't have time to blink before he heard the banging of old books and shattering of fine china. Oh, Quinton was going to murder him.

With a huff, he got down on the ground and started picking the boxes back up. He was glad that Quinton at least knew how to handle tape. Otherwise, he would have had to explain why his hands were covered in blood. Nope. Wasn't in the mood to explain the broken dishes that somebody had the nerve to bring up there.

Out of the many boxes he picked up, only one of them wasn't taped. Quattro only figured this out when he picked it back up and found he did so while it was upside down. All he gave after that was a rather irked growl.

Then he got back down and picked the rest of the fallen articles up off the ground. Mostly, it was just a bunch of their father's old handkerchiefs or Quinton's lab coat. But one thing, however, stood out.

An old photo album. A photo album with a leather cover. Age had taken its toll on the old book, proven by the scuff marks on the corners and the worn out thread that was keeping the leather in place.

Quattro raised an eyebrow as he picked it back up and opened its covers.

Then his eyes widened.

It wasn't just any old photo album.

It was the photo album from their childhood. Everything from Quinton's birth to Trey's first tricycle.

"No way," Quattro thought breathlessly.

"Quattro," Quinton called form the bottom of the attic steps. "Is everything alright up there?"

"Yeah," Quattro responded, pulling his head out of the album and looking down to the steps. "Everything's good."

"Then why did I hear everything fall down?" Quinton asked.

Quattro paled for a second. "What do you mean?" he asked evasively.

Quinton didn't bother to go further into the conversation. With the shake of his head, he turned away and walked back into his room and got back to cleaning.

Quattro followed shortly after.

* * *

(Midnight.)

Trey gave his brother's door a quick knock. Quattro, who until then, was trying to get some much needed sleep, opened his door with a yawn. "What's the matter, Trey?" he asked. "You had a nightmare or something?"

Trey's slightly red face gave him his answer. Adapting to a new environment was never the red-head's strongest point. Even back in the orphanage, Trey had to sneak into Quattro's room if he was to sleep in any way. With a sigh, Quattro opened his door and allowed Trey to get in, something the young teenager did with incredible speed.

Quattro just had to laugh at his brother's antics. He was just so cute sometimes, even though Quattro would never dare admit it.

"Gomen ne, Nii-sama," Trey whimpered. "Onii-sama wouldn't wake up."

"He's one of the heaviest sleeper I've ever seen, that's for sure," Quattro said with a chuckle. Then he sat down on the bed beside his brother and folded his legs. "So, what's the matter, Trey?"

"Nothing," Trey admitted. "I just had a bad dream."

Translation: Had a nightmare and didn't want to be alone in a big room.

If Quattro could laugh without sounding like a lunatic, he'd have done just that. Then a twinkle appeared in his eye as he bent down and grabbed something out from under his bed. "Hey," went Quattro. "I found something in the attic today."

Trey's eyes sparkled. "What did you find?" he asked.

Quattro gave him a toothy grin. "This," he said, pulling the album out from under his bed.

Trey's face lit up like a lightbulb as he slowly took it from Quattro's hands. "Is it really...?"

"Yep," Quattro said with a grin. "The one and only."

"The photo album that Otou-san and Okaa-san made when we were all children."

Four eyes turned to Quattro's door. Quitnon, in his pajamas ←[You have to admit that it would be funny to imagine.] was leaning against the doorstop, a light grin on his face. "I had actually forgotten about that old thing."

"I thought you were sleeping," Quattro mumbled.

"I was," Quinton said. "But in case you've forgotten, I have problems sleeping. Especially in new areas."

Quattro was about two seconds away from smacking his head. What was with his family and their insomnia issues?

With a ghost of a smile, Quinton walked over to the bed and sat down in Quattro's chair. "So," he said, "what are we looking at?"

"Since when was it 'we?'" Quattro asked.

Trey lightly chuckled. "Since two minutes ago, Nii-sama," he responded. Then he held the photo album out for the three of them to see.

Then he proceeded to open it, unlocking the memories of the three siblings in that room.

Three siblings who had long since forgotten...those wonderful days long since passed.

* * *

**D.T.B: Yay. My fic for Arclight week is done. To be honest, this was supposed to be an angsty thing for Quattro and Trey back in their orphanage days, but I got about four or five paragraphs in before it stopped on me. Then I had a little humorous thought and this came out of it. Glad it did too. :)**


End file.
